Thai national who supplied arms to NE militants from China to be extradited

New Delhi, Nov 5: The war on terror in the North Eastern states received a shot in the arm with a court in Thailand turning out an appeal against the extradition of Wuthikorn Naruenartwanich alias Willy Naru the go in between man for the North Eastern militants and the Chinese gun suppliers.

The extradition of Willy Naru is a big deal for the NIA since he is a Thai national and securing the extradition of foreign nationals is never an easy job.

The NIA had put up a strong case backed with solid evidence before it made out a case with Thailand seeking the extradition of Willy Naru. The NIA had told the Thai authorities that Naru is responsible for brokering deals between Chinese arms dealers and militants operating in the North East.

Naru had filed an appeal in the Thai court against the extradition and the same was rejected. He is likely to be brought to India by next week.

The Chinese link to become clear:

Naru is a direct link between the Chinese arms dealers and the North Eastern militants. India has often complained about a Chinese hand in North Eastern militancy. The 58 year old Naru had been brokering deals for various outfits operating in the North Eastern states.

Naru worked undercover and used his spa as a front in Bangkok. After India had made out a case against him, he was arrested in August 2013. The NIA had alleged that Naru would procure arms from NORINCO (North China Industries Company), arms company in China and supply it to the militants.

In one of the chargesheets filed by the NIA it is stated that some of his deals ranged between supplying 70 to 1,000 guns to the militant groups. The arms that were supplied by him included light machine guns, rocket propelled grenades, the AK series automatic rifles.

One militant group from the North East had even sought 3,00,000 rounds of ammunition from him according to the NIA chargesheet. He was even paid 8 lakh US dollars as a part payment for the consignment.

The NIA states that as per the deal Naru would have to ensure that the arms would reach the Cox Bazaar in Bangladesh from where it would be collected. The arms would be delivered by the Chinese dealers at a port in South China and then moved to Bangladesh.

A shot in the arm for the NIA:
For the NIA, his extradition is a shot in the arm. We are expecting that he will be extradited by next week. He has not restricted his deals to just one militant group. He was a businessman. He had no alliance with any one particular group.

His questioning is very important and he will tell us the exact route through which the arms and ammunition would reach the militant groups, the NIA official added.

This is a high profile operative and will provide us with the much needed details required for our ongoing investigations into the activities of the North Eastern militant groups, the officer also added.